Lockwood Smith

The Honourable Dr  Lockwood Smith  MP
28th Speaker of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office  8 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Margaret Wilson
38th Minister of Education
In office 2 November, 1990 – 1 March, 1996
Prime Minister	Jim Bolger
Preceded by	Phil Goff
Succeeded by	Wyatt Creech
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Rodney (previously Kaipara)
Incumbent
Assumed office  1984
Preceded by	Peter Wilkinson
Majority	15,635[1]
Born	13 November 1948 (1948-11-13) (age 60) Paparoa
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	National
Spouse(s)	Alexandra Lang[2]
Residence	Ruawai
^ At 2008 election ^ Married 4 July, 2009

Alexander Lockwood Smith (born 13 November 1948), a member of the New Zealand National Party, has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1984. He represented first the Kaipara electorate and then Rodney, and has held a number of Cabinet positions, including Minister of Education, Minister of Agriculture, Minister for International Trade, and Associate Minister of Finance. In 2008 he became Speaker of the House. On 18 January 2009, it was revealed that he was getting married to "long-term girlfriend" Alexandra Lang.

Before entering politics Dr Smith lectured at Massey University, worked as a television presenter (presenting a children's quiz show), and managed marketing at the New Zealand Dairy Board.

Minister in the Fourth National Government

Dr Smith served as Minister of Education from 1990 until 1996 in the Fourth National Government of New Zealand. During this period he implemented a number of changes to the tertiary education sector (universities and technical institutions). One high-profile change involved a radical increase in student fees, as recommended by the Todd Report, which the government had commissioned to address issues of funding.

As opposition education spokesman in 1990, Smith promised to remove the Labour Government's tertiary tuition fee of $1250, if elected. Once in office, he kept this promise on a technicality: he shifted the burden of charging fees for courses from the government to the institutions, who then had to charge even higher tuition fees due to decreased government funding.

Smith's term as Education Minister also saw the introduction of means-testing for student allowances, with the effect that students of middle-class parents became ineligible for allowances until they reached 25 years of age.

These activities inevitably resulted in considerable antipathy toward Smith from tertiary students, and he became the subject of a considerable amount of protest activity. On one occasion in 1994 Smith had to escape from a mob through a window at the University of Canterbury. Another protestor produced an unflattering bust of Smith, sculpted out of horse manure.

In 1996 Smith took up the Agriculture and Trade Negotiation portfolios: Wyatt Creech succeeded him as Education Minister. Smith also became Minister for International Trade and for Tourism, as well as holding responsibilities as Associate Minister of Finance, Associate Minister of Immigration (International Access and Processing), and Minister Responsible for Contact Energy Ltd.

As Trade Minister, Smith spearheaded New Zealand's efforts at the 1999 APEC negotiations. He successfully negotiated New Zealand's free-trade agreement with Singapore, which became the NZ - Singapore Closer Economic Partnership. At the WTO Ministerial in Seattle, he took part in efforts which later lead to the Doha Development Round.

Opposition, 1999-2008

In opposition, Dr Smith held a number of spokesperson roles for the National Party, including those of Foreign Affairs, Commerce, and Immigration. In his role as Immigration spokesman, Smith challenged Mangere MP Taito Phillip Field over alleged impropriety in Field's dealings with constituents.^[1]

During the 2008 election campaign, on October 22, 2008, Smith made some comments in an interview with the Marlborough Express concerning seasonal Asian and Pacific workers that caused controversy. Regarding Pacific workers he said that some employers "are having to teach them things like how to use a toilet or shower..." And he said that for pruning trees: "some of the Asian workers have been more productive... because their hands are smaller." Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia described these remarks as "racist", and the Prime Minister Helen Clark characterised them as "absolutely daft". Smith later stated that the media had presented his comments out of context, and that he had repeated the views of employers whom he had talked to; he expressed regret at any unintended offence taken. The parliamentary leader of the National Party, John Key, subsequently referred to this statement as an "apology".^[2][3]

Speaker of the House

Following the National Party's successes in the 2008 election, Members of Parliament unanimously elected Smith as Speaker of the House.

References

External links

• National Party Bio
• Parliamentary page
• Lockwood Smith marries